2026-01-15 SPIRT

PROPOSED AGENDA

1. Welcome and SOIs

2. Statement of Interest (SOI) and Statement of Participation (SOP) Discussion

3. Issue Submission Methodology

4. Upcoming Meeting

5. AOB

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS

  Slides:

PARTICIPATION

Apologies: Chris Disspain, Marc Trachtenberg, Nitin Walia

RECORDINGS

Audio Recording

Zoom Recording (including audio, visual, rough transcript and chat)

Notes/ Action Items

[KEY OUTCOMES]

1. A quick and easy form will be shared with the SPIRT members to fill out if and when an issue needs attention and discussion. The leadership team will consider the issue and share on the mailing list by Friday before or the Monday of the Meeting week.

2. A written internal procedural document will be made and shared with SPIRT.

3. SPIRT Meetings will take place every other week; next meeting will be on 29 January 2026 at 13:00 UTC.

[ACTION ITEMS]

1. SPIRT members to update their SOIs, especially focusing on “Section 13. Additional Information,” to disclose association with applicants in the Next Round and/or a party(ies) that may file objections.

2. SPIRT members to fill out a form/checklist when an issue needs attention and consideration by the SPIRT leadership team.

3. LT/Staff to prepare a written internal procedural document and share with SPIRT.

[NOTES]

• Retrieve slides from here: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AQAEKQ [icann-community.atlassian.net]

1. Welcome and SOIs

• Welcome and introduction

2. Statement of Interest (SOI) and Statement of Participation (SOP) Discussion

• Per the SPIRT Charter [gnso.icann.org], all members shall disclose whether they are in any way associated with an application for a new gTLD string in the current round – This includes being an employee, consultant, outside advisor (including legal), or any other association with the applicant, a back-end operator and/or any other service provider in the new gTLD Program. Prior to applications being revealed, the member must only disclose that it is working with one or more applications; provided, however, that after all applications are revealed to the public, the member must specify which applications it is associated with.

• Within the SOI, SPIRT members can include this information in “Section 13 (Additional Information)”: The members need to disclose their roles associated to the applicants/New gTLD Program. After reveal day, the details on the association to which application need to be disclosed.

• The Statement of Participation (SOP): SPIRT members agree to disclose, on a regular and ongoing basis, whether I am or will be employed by, under contract with, have a financial interest in, or will provide consulting, financial, legal or other services to any new gTLD applicant, objector, or commenter.

• The list of members and attached SOIs, the members’ disclosure statement can be found here:https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AQCJHQ [icann-community.atlassian.net]

• Action Item: SPIRT members to update their SOIs, especially focusing on “Section 13. Additional Information,” to disclose association with applicants in the Next Round and/or a party that may file objections.

• Regarding a question on applicants and when they would be recognized as one, the Chair noted that applicant is only an applicant when applied; however, if the intention is to file an application and/or likely to, the disclosure of association is required.

• Per the Charter, disclosures shall take place at the beginning of every SPIRT meeting and will be captured on the recording of the meeting. This will be done regularly. Therefore, though it will be tedious, the SPIRT Chair requested all members on the call to disclose such information – There is no need to do this on every call unless there are new members and/or new updates/changes to the SOI/SOP.

• As for SOP and disclosure statement, the Chair re-emphasized that the use of “conflict of interest” should be avoided; rather, the members should focus on disclosing their association with applicants and/or a party that may file objections.

• Disclosure of SOI/SOP: Check SOIs and updated “Disclosure Statement” column from today’s meeting through the members page here: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AQCJHQ [icann-community.atlassian.net]

• Moving forward, only the new members and/or updates/changes will be shared at the beginning of each call.

3. Issue Submission Methodology

•  Per the SPIRT Charter, issues can be forwarded to ICANN org by the ICANN Bard or the GNSO Council. ICANN org may also refer an issue to itself but SPIRT cannot directly refer an issue to itself; it may have an issue referred to it by the GNSO Council, confer with the GNSO Council if it wishes to request change and determine the change mechanism. In essence, the issue is only dealt with by SPIRT, if the GNSO Council or ICANN org forward the issue to SPIRT.

• Therefore, a quick and easy form will be shared with and requested by the SPIRT members at a later date, informing the SPIRT leadership team on the issue for consideration; the SPIRT leadership team will discuss whether it is something ICANN org should bring forward or discuss through the GNSO Council. This form will act as a checklist to ensure any submissions are in scope. If the issue is to be discussed within SPIRT, this form will be translated into and shared on the mailing list by Friday before or Monday of the Meeting week.

• It is important to note that all issues forwarded to ICANN org be subject to thoughtful analysis and have an impact beyond a single applicant.

• Outcome: A quick and easy form will be shared with the SPIRT members to fill out if and when an issue needs attention and discussion. The leadership team will consider the issue and share on the mailing list by Friday before or the Monday of the Meeting week.

• Action Item: SPIRT members to fill out the form when an issue needs attention and consideration by the SPIRT leadership team.

• A question was raised on whether there is a time limit to by when the members should respond to the list. The Chair noted that guidelines are stipulated in the SPIRT Charter. For example, per the Charter, it stipulates that “When ICANN org notifies the SPIRT of the type of change considered by ICANN org, the SPIRT shall endeavor to provide guidance, if any, within seven (7) calendar days or as otherwise required to maintain the operation of the Program if it disagreed with the decision. For changes designated as minor operational changes (Type 1), the SPIRT shall review the decision through the Change Log and take no more than three (3) calendar days to provide guidance if it disagrees with the decision.”

• Per the Predictability Framework the Change Log will proceed as follows: “ICANN org will document all changes to the Program in a publicly available change log and will set up a publicly archived mailing list for all parties that wish to be notified of Program changes. For non-minor operational changes, ICANN org will inform all applicants directly. Should a change relate to sensitive or security-related issues, information will be redacted as necessary. ICANN org will add any minor operational changes to the Change Log within five business days after implementing it.”

• Regarding how any issues from the Council will be brought to SPIRT, especially in urgent cases, the SPIRT Chair asked the Council liaison to the SPIRT (Lawrence Olawale-Roberts) to discuss with the Council on how to proceed in such cases; i.e., resolution, correspondence, etc.?

• A written internal procedural doc. will be made for the SPIRT and will be brought bring back to group.

• Outcome: A written internal procedural document will be made and shared with SPIRT.

• Action Item: LT/Staff to prepare a written internal procedural document and share with SPIRT.

4. Upcoming Meeting

   • SPIRT Meetings are to take place every other week.

• Next Meeting: 29 January 2026 at 13:00 UTC.

• Outcomes: 1) SPIRT Meetings are to take place every other week; 2) Next meeting will be on 29 January 2026 at 13:00 UTC.

5. AOB

   • GDS update on RST: GDS Staff noted that the discussion on list has been acknowledged but there is currently no thorough updates; a written update will be available soon.